Kineta, through its subsidiary Kineta Chronic Pain LLC, announced the first participant has been successfully dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial of KCP506, an investigational, first-in-class α9/α10 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) antagonist in development for the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain. α9α10 nAChR antagonists have demonstrated robust analgesic, anti-neuroinflammatory and neuroprotective effects across multiple preclinical chronic pain models. KCP506 offers the potential for a disease modifying therapy that may slow or halt the progression of chronic pain.

"KCP506 represents a promising potential approach for treating patients with chronic pain where there is such a tremendous unmet medical need," said Eric Tarcha PhD, Kineta EVP Research and Development. "The successful dosing of the first participant with KCP506 is a major achievement for this program and the clinical development of our novel non-opioid."

The Phase 1, first-in-human, double blinded, placebo controlled, single ascending and multiple ascending dose study is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of KCP506 in healthy people. The trial is designed to enroll up to 88 participants with safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic data expected to read out in the second half of 2021.

KCP506 may potentially be an effective treatment for many types of chronic neuropathic pain including radiculopathy, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, and diabetic neuropathy. The global neuropathic pain market was $6.3 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach to $9.9 billion by 2027.